The accumulation of snow and ice, hereinafter referred to as “frozen precipitation” on the surface or roof of road vehicles such as semi-trailer trucks and other large vehicles presents a substantial problem. Frozen precipitation may accumulate on the roof of the vehicle while the vehicle is stopped, parked or otherwise stationary, and may also accumulate on the vehicle roof while the vehicle is moving.
If the frozen precipitation is not removed from the roof of the vehicle, slabs or other solid mass forms of the frozen precipitation may become separated from the vehicle roof and fly off or otherwise fall from the moving vehicle. The flying mass may strike or impact one or more vehicles following behind the moving vehicle, may cause another vehicle to swerve to avoid the flying mass, and/or may form an obstruction on the road surface. In such a manner, the flying and/or obstruction mass may cause damage or lead to an accident. For example, the flying mass may impact and break a windshield of a following car and result in one or more accidents. For at least these reasons, some jurisdictions require that ice and/or snow be removed from a vehicle before the vehicle may travel on roadways.
In response, removal of frozen precipitation from the roof of a vehicle has been achieved by brushing. Unfortunately, the brush makes contact with the roof of the vehicle, and can cause damage to the roof.
In other attempts, an operator may move the vehicle to or into a facility where the frozen precipitation is removed by heating and/or spraying with de-icing and/or melting agents. However, these attempts are only practical wherein a large number of vehicles are present so as to justify the expense thereof. They do not provide a solution for a single or few vehicles that can be in a location wherein such a structure is not available.
Therefore, a long felt need exists to economically remove frozen precipitation from a surface of a road vehicle.
What is needed is a system to remove frozen precipitation from the roof of a road vehicle, and in particular, to non-invasively remove frozen precipitation from a large vehicle such as a tractor-trailer.